Old Friends and a Few In-Between Things

 Have you noticed that it's been pretty nonstop around here for the last couple months?  Yeah, me too.  With kids at home, my life used to be pretty nonstop all the time, but as the kids have left the house one by one, the pace has slowed down a bit.  There have even been times in the last few years when I worry that I'm missing something, because life is so NOT busy.   I've thought long and hard about finding a job, but just haven't felt like that was the right thing yet, so I am sometimes floundering a little as I search for the most effective/meaningful way to spend my time.   But then I have periods of time like the last couple months have been and I am grateful a million times over that I have the incredible privilege of choosing to stay unemployed at this stage of my life, because I can't imagine one more thing to do on my already long list.  Plus I really, really love being flexible enough to be available for the grandkids' calls and visits and I think our new BYU callings would be very challenging if I worked full-time too.  

So, I finally have a few minutes and, here I am, blogging about a couple of the in-between things that I missed mentioning here on the blog, because they happened amongst the myriad of other "bigger" things (like  our busy new callings, Emma's graduation, the work conference in Saint George,  our trip to Alabama, and Emma's injury/surgery).  

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I am not convinced that Utah will ever truly feel like home  to me, but I'm coming around to the idea that it's certainly not a bad place to live.  Besides the epic scenery, I love that old friends actually come to visit (or move here too).    If we moved away from our community here in Utah tomorrow, I am 99.99% convinced that not a single person we've met here in Utah would ever come visit us, no matter where we lived (even if it were a mile away), so the fact that I have friends that  call when they come to visit sometimes, makes me incredibly happy!   

  Heather and Kelly are two of those good friends.  Heather recently moved nearby and is now a part of my book group, which I love.  Kelly is so good at keeping in touch, something I'm not the greatest at, so I extra appreciate her efforts and I loved seeing her, along with Heather, when she came to town for her daughter's recent graduation from BYU.  

Speaking of graduation, when we were out celebrating Emma's, I  randomly ran into this cousin of my sister-in-law, Karey,  who recognized me from my blog.  Haha!  I am fully aware that she was a regular blog reader from way back when I actually attempted humor and had a lot more funny stories to share, but it did make me feel cool to be recognized all these years later!   If you ever meet / see me in the real world, please come talk to me and make my day!   

The day after all the excitement from Emma's graduation, we celebrated my 52nd birthday!   Emma made an AMAZING cake (gluten free of course)...

which was as delicious as it was cool looking!  

I'll do a catch-up post for every member of the family soon, since there's a lot happening in most of their lives, but I think I'll finish this blogpost up with a few more pictures of some Virginia friends that recently came to town.  Kim's son was performing in a BYU production of High School Musical, which provided the perfect, last minute excuse for a trek to Provo to gather with old friends!  

All of these women are dear friends, but, besides running RAGNAR together nearly 14 years ago (see photo below), I feel like I have a special connection with each of them.    Amy is a fellow grandma to Lucie and Oliver, Kim is the mom of one of Adam's best friends growing up, and Heather is a fellow Minnesotan with whom I have a lot of shared experiences.    Finding  this old picture of us was a blast from the past and brought back a lot of carefree memories from the couple of months right before Spencer was diagnosed with leukemia and our world was forever rocked!   These women were right by my side during that challenging time!  

RAGNAR, September 2011 {l-r:  Cat, Me, Amy, Kim, Paige, Heather}

 We had to get a photo with just us and the B family, since we're practically related now that our kids have been married to each other for 7 years!    

It made my whole week to see them all again...💗

And now I need to get back to my long list of things to do again.  Thanks for tuning in today and stay tuned for more updates coming soon!   

A New Alumnus in the Family!

Nearly 30 years ago, I graduated from BYU with a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology.  I had finished all my coursework in December, but walked that April.  Spencer was one-year-old and I was very excited to be done with school.  I never even considered grad school at the time and basically only ever worked part-time until Glen graduated and we moved out East the following year. 

Look how young we all were!  

This past week, Emma graduated from BYU with a Bachelor's of Science in Public Health. 

I am proud of all my kids and their accomplishments, but I did feel an extra sense of pride with this graduation, as Emma was our first homeschool graduate, who never attended a minute of  public school past 7th grade. 

She is a hard worker and a dedicated student and we were thrilled to be there to celebrate this huge accomplishment with her. 

It was fun to run into lots of old friends around campus, but mostly we just enjoyed seeing Emma in her element.    She has given her heart to her time there in Provo and it's clear she is well-loved by many!  

Here she is with her former mission companion and current roommate, Riley, who also graduated.

Next up for Ems...a gap year, probably in Rhode Island with Cam and fam, and then grad school...maybe...if she decides it's right for her! 

It's kind of wild that we've got another kid done with their undergrad...and our first BYU grad! 

Way to go, Emma!   We love you!  

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PS  If you're interested, here's a post about Cami's graduation from the University of Texas.

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Eastering Together

Since becoming empty nesters, we honestly  go through some pretty dry spells where our lives are pretty uneventful, but lately it's been a pretty steady stream of nonboringness and we are enjoying it!  In fact, it's felt a bit like a whirlwind here the last month or so, so there's a ton to blog about.

This post will focus on the happenings of Easter weekend.  

On the Friday before Easter, my sister Heather was down in Provo with my Mom taking Emma's graduation pics (more of the recent excitement) and we decided to join them for a spontaneous little dinner and treat night.  Besides Heather, my Mom, and Emma, McKenzie (my niece), Riley (Emma's roommate), Adam, Spencer, and Glen and I were there.  We ate dinner at Don Joaquin's...

and laughed when our receipt was #74, which induced a lot of giggles on our parts...

We ended the night at Brooker's Founding Flavors ice cream shop near BYU.  Zwahlens in PA is still our gold standard for the best ice cream ever, but Brooker's isn't too far behind.  Plus the colonial / Founding Fathers theme of the shop makes us nostalgic for the DC area.   We were there on the snowy day mentioned here, so it wasn't great ice cream weather, but the place was still packed and we laughed that they had an outdoor DJ there that night.   

It was way too cold to be sitting outside and eating ice cream, but we chatted with the DJ on the way out and were impressed that they were celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere that night.  

I doubt any of you blog readers have been around long enough to remember that Emma was OBSESSED with the poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow back in the day!   We both could quote several stanzas of the poem from memory and I had to pull up this picture I found here on the blog to pass around to everyone!    "Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere..." 

Then on Easter Sunday we attended our new YSA ward and LOVED it!   The talks and music were Christ centered and beautiful.   I think we are going to really enjoy this season of serving down at BYU. 

After church, we hosted dinner for 12 people!    Guests besides Glen, Emma, Spence, Adam, and I, included our niece, McKenzie, my sister, Heather, my Mom, my cousin, Trisha, and her 2 daughters Lily and Sylvie, plus Adam's roommate, Ty.

Glen woke up at 2am to  smoke  brisket and later made mashed potatoes, Heather brought rolls, and I made broccoli salad, pie,cupcakes.  Adam, Emma, and McKenzie were our sous chefs.  Everything was delicious and we ate well! 

It was so fun to get these first and second cousins together again. 

Meanwhile, in Alabama...the B family was enjoying their own Easter.  Yes, Cami and I were wearing matching dresses that we both bought on a recent sale!    And Cami sewed Lucie and Oliver's matching outfits!    Apparently Lucie had the time of her life with all the Easter celebrations, but Oliver wasn't so sure...

And, in California, Ellie was busy teaching people about Jesus, while celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.   She, along with the other missionaries serving in her ward, ended up performing a musical number in the Easter sacrament service without any previous notice.  Overall it sounded like she had a beautiful day. 

It turned out to be a lovely weekend with  a lot of good food, lots of reflection on the atonement of our Savior, and  with lots of good company... just the way Easter should be!  💗

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A Snowy Day in April

Once upon a time there was a girl who spent most of her growing up years in Minnesota.  She took great pride in having an extensive collection of cozy sweaters and an excellent tolerance to cold.  

Later, when the time came, she headed to BYU for college.   She was immediately underwhelmed with Utah winters and loved to tell her friends how wimpy they were compared to "real" winters in Minnesota.   She laughed when others became alarmed when experiencing the sensation of their nose hairs freezing  for the first time when they took a roommate trek to Idaho.   Pshaw!   That happened all the time in Minnesota.

Yeah, she was no doubt quite an annoying person to be around sometimes.      

Then she moved to the DC area, where she spent the next 25ish years experiencing a true four season climate.   Yes, it would get cold in the winter, but generally only in the winter and everything would get canceled if it snowed at all, so they could stay warm and cozy at home.  Yes, it was hot and sometimes miserably humid in the summer, but only in the summer.   And Virginia falls and the springs were glorious and long!   She got spoiled.

Then they moved to Utah and she quickly realized that Utah winters, though not as cold as Minnesota's, were not as wimpy as they had been in her memories.  The Utah springs and falls have moments of intense glory, but they get overshadowed by winter a whole heck of a lot more often than she remembered.    And somewhere during those ensuing years, her aging body seemed to have lost all tolerance to temperatures below about 75°.  I think that, perhaps,  she just used up that tolerance in the first 18 years of her life. 

So what happens when that completely cold-intolerant, done-with-winter girl wakes up on April 18th to a sight like this?     

After grumping around the house for a bit, she pulls back out her winter clothes, pastes a fake smile on her face...

and turns her morning walk into a photographing-snow-on-flowers walk.  

Because, it was either that or crying...

And that didn't sound fun.    Hope you all had a beautiful Easter! 

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Flashback Friday: OUR BABIES!!!

In honor of the last Friday before we have another new baby in the family, I thought I'd do a Flashback Friday all about my babies!  

TOP ROW:  Cami, Emma

BOTTOM ROW:  Ellie, Adam, Spencer

Here's a few little memories about each one of them:  

SPENCER: was born after 36 hours of labor.  He was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and we were released from the hospital when he was just 12-hours old.   The doctor called him "Banana George" because his head was quite misshapen after birth.  We had no routine when he was young, so he just slept whenever he felt like it, often in very funny situations.   He had a giggle like no other and we would go to great lengths to garner them from him!  

CAMI: was induced when I was 7 days late.   She was 8lbs. 15 oz. and the biggest of all my babies.  She started getting teeth at 4-months old!   The nurse at the hospital called her one of the prettiest newborn babies she'd ever seen and she hoped that her future babies would be that cherubic looking!  She was overall a pretty content baby, but she did have a temper that would make her scream so loud she'd pass out.  The doctor said she was the youngest child (about 9-months-old) he'd ever seen exhibit that behavior and told us she was too young to be manipulative, and that she just had a strong temper.  

EMMA:  was born right on her due date (Halloween).  She was the smallest of the Goold babies at 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was also the baldest of our babies and surprised us all when her hair came in red!  She was by far the squirmiest (non-cuddliest) one of our babies!  With her high energy, loud voice, cheerful personality, and need for attention, she got called a "little firecracker" a lot in her first few years of life!  

ADAM: was my most traumatic birth by a mile.  He was 8 days late and was scheduled to be induced the same day I went into labor naturally.   He was 8lbs. 13 oz.  and had an APGAR score of 2.  From early on, he had a smile that could light up a room and it was that smile brought us through the hours and hours of crying he did in those first couple years.    I was glad he was my 4th child, because I'm not sure how many more kids I would have had if he had come first.  As it was, we held him almost non-stop for those first two years.   

ELLIE: was induced 5 days before her due date (at my insistence after Adam's traumatic birth) and her labor took 12+ hours!  The doctor called me an unripe banana.  She was the only one of my babies that had trouble gaining weight.  The doctors did all sorts of tests that all came back normal, but I already knew that would be the case, because she was such a happy baby (and certainly didn't act like she was starving).   She ate like a baby bird, opening her mouth wide and tilting her head back for each bite!

Stay tuned for exciting baby news coming your way soon! 

 

Running--then and now

Once upon a time there was a young teen who got talked into running on the high school cross country team.   She had never really run before.  Actually for that matter, she had never really participated in any sport before, but she decided to give it a try.     She pretty much hated it at first, but kept with it through all four years of high school.  She never did get to be very competitive, but she grew to love running and love the camaraderie of the cross country team.  It is still of my opinion that cross country runners are the smartest, nicest people around.  

Over the years, running has stayed important in my life and running and walking are still my preferred ways to exercise.   But I don't really like racing anymore.  I've done a few races over the years--

A couple half-marathons, a Ragnar, a bunch of 5k's, but for the most part I like to run slow and only a couple times a week. Any more than that and I tend to get injured.   So for the last couple of years I've had the routine of walking most days of the week and running on Mondays/Thursdays only.   It's a routine that keeps me challenged, fit, and uninjured.  And I like being uninjured.   

Fast forward a bunch of years and Cami chose to run cross country in high school too.  Watching her run always made me feel so nostalgic and I was proud of her for sticking with it all four years of high school too.  She also did lacrosse in high school and at BYU. 

Then she married into a crazy running family.  The kind of family where her mother-in-law has run like 20 marathons.  Her father-in-law has run 50 mile trail races.  Even Garrett is hoping to qualify for Boston.  You know that kind of crazy.   

So it shouldn't have surprised us too much when just a few months after she was married, she announced that she was training for a marathon.  And she actually did it.   She trained hard for several months, fighting off a couple of injuries along the way, but this past weekend she did it!   

Cami ran an entire marathon!   

And Garrett did it too.   It wasn't his first one though, so I'm mostly bragging about Cami this time!   

Neither one of them quite met their time goals, but Cami was within a couple of minutes, so she's already talking about trying it again!    And Garrett still wants to qualify for Boston, so I foresee many more long runs in their future.

Meanwhile...this runner here is still quite content with her 10-minute-mile pace treadmill runs twice a week and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.